As part of Dead By Dawn Festival.
A key component of the strength of the Dead By Dawn festival has been the strength and depth of the short film programmes, and Now Wash Your Hands is no exception.
David Uloth/ Canada/ 2015/ 23 mins
Edgar is an opera-loving romantic who works in a slaughterhouse. We see his daily routine in graphic detail. He’s in love with Ginette, the plus-size stripper at a club he frequents, but he’s betrayed. He’s so traumatised by this he loses his power of speech in an unexpected way. David Uloth’s beautiful black and white images, dotted with splashes of rich colour, contrast with the grim images of large-scale slaughter. Its tone is surreal and its execution is distinctly arty. There is a sense of a point being made about meat production, but it stops well short of being a treatise.
Alice Shindelar/ USA/ 2016/ 13 mins
Fans of Mitchell Lichtenstein’s Teeth, Miike Takashi’s Gozu, or Neil Gaiman’s American Gods will be familiar with the direction taken by this twisted coming of age tale. Abigail Wahl is CJ, a teenage girl who wakes up alone in a cave just after losing her virginity to her boyfriend. Annoyed by muffled, garbled phone calls from him, and curious to extend her sexual experience, she picks up another guy at a party. Shindelor’s take feels like a metaphor for the all-consuming power of blossoming sexual desire. Wahl plays it with just the right mix of innocence and guile.
Anthony Cousins/ USA/ 2016/ 10 mins
Now, this is body horror! What could be worse than being taken me over by an alien parasite? How about being actively compelled to aid in the process; losing your mind to the intruder even as it corrupts your flesh? When Susurrus Stirs is not one to watch on a full stomach. The handmade effects glisten with a mucal sheen, and as events escalate so does the sickening intensity of the visuals. This is one to rival early Cronenberg in the venereal horror sub-genre. This year’s selection of shorts has been marked by wry humour, and there is some queasy comedy here, but this is a welcome injection of real nastiness.
Leo Wieser/ Canada/ 2016/ 3 mins
Putting this on the bill is more sadistic than anything seen onscreen over the weekend, and the resulting ear worm will burrow in deeper than the most voracious parasite. Canadian musical comedy group The Arrogant Worms present a little song about having a bad cold, complete with handmade, Gilliam-esque animation. You can find it to view online, but don’t say you weren’t warned.
Another selection of short films that maintain the tremendous standard seen all through the festival. There are some images (and songs!) here that will stay with you for a long, long time. Fascination with the human body and its limits and failings remains enduring for genre filmmakers, and it’s refreshing to see original approaches to the subject that don’t simply rehash Cronenberg’s more eye-watering moments.